


Starlight in Starling: Aquila, the Eagle

by BardicRaven



Series: Starlight in Starling [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Archery, Astronomy, Birds, Birds of Prey, Bows & Arrows, Constellations, Gen, Philosophy, eagle - Freeform, poetry in prose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 22:38:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2890562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reality is that it is a hard thing to help an eagle – all beak and talons, an eagle does not understand and does not care to understand that you are trying to help them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starlight in Starling: Aquila, the Eagle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> _for atlashearts, without whom this story would not have existed. Thank you so much for the loan of your wondrous words...._

_There was one night in particular that stayed with her, always hidden in the crook of her elbow, when he spoke both passionately and sadly, of **heroes**._  
   
 _“Heroes don’t exist.” He began, looking out over the veins of the city below him.“‘Hero’ implies that we are untainted of sins, pure, fighting for a cause backed by justice and peace. But us? We have all seen **death** , unadulterated.”_

_“We turn into demons that wreak havoc on the world on the pretense that we are **helping**. That we **care**. We do not. We fight to take away our own sick pain, we fight to push away the fingers of depression, we fight so we do not become **psychopaths** , if we aren’t already. We’re dying, if we’re not dead.” He looked at her then, the pale moonlight lighting his haggard features and the tapping of his shoe against the concrete all that she could hear besides her own frenetic heartbeat._

_“We’re vicious people, and every day, **every damn day** , I regret bringing you into this cruel world that I live in.” He said._

_Her heartbeat stopped._

_For a single moment._

_He had looked at her, his gaze cutting into the blue night that lay past her shoulders. His eyes were like a car crash, broken and fractured, glinting in the faded gold of the street lights._

##### from 'Vega' by atlashearts

***********

Felicity held her breath as the Universe waited. One breath, two, three, four. When she had counted eleven, she released her fear. The world would not end tonight.

Her world would not end tonight.

Tomorrow was another matter.

***********

She helps the eagle fly. In the small part of her soul that she reserves for poetry, Felicity understands that.

The reality is that it is a hard thing to help an eagle – all beak and talons, an eagle does not understand and does not care to understand that you are trying to help them.

All they can see is the dance of predator and prey. 

That's all they know.

That's all they desire to know.

So they strike out, unthinking, leave friends and foes alike to bleed their hearts out in the cold, cold streets.

Reflections of the stars in the skies above.

Felicity knows this, knows the futility of the work she does. But she also knows the value of it. Of trying. Of putting one foot in front of another, her hands on the keyboard for one more night.

Of just perhaps, turning that car crash into something else, something whole, transmuting time itself into the blue, blue vault of heaven in his eyes.

Reflections of the stars in the skies above.

**Author's Note:**

> ##### I had the great good fortune to read the story 'Vega' by atlashearts the other day, and immediately, her portrayal of Oliver speaking about heroes caught both my Muse's and my attention.
> 
> ##### Atlashearts generously granted me the right to play, with the results you see here.
> 
> ##### This isn't all I have to say yet, not by a long shot. It's not even what I first envisioned.
> 
> ##### But it's what is here now, and it calls to my heart, my bardic soul, enough to post.
> 
> ##### So read, enjoy, and may the wind be ever beneath your wings. 
> 
> ##### -B!


End file.
